Before all things…

Third in the seriesAdam to Abrahamon Genesis 1-11

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said,…Genesis 1:1-3

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.He was with God in the beginning.Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. John 1:1-3

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make ourjoy complete. 1 John 1:1-4

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. Colossians 1:15-20

This might come as a shock to some of you, but Jesus did not make his first appearance in a feed trough in a lowly stable in tiny Bethlehem. Scripture makes abundantly clear that the Son existed before time and out of space with the Father. Jesus puts a face to the name of God. “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.” (John 14:9) “Before Abraham was, I AM.” (John 8:58)

No matter how we try, we cannot adequately explain the mystery of the Trinity – that the singular God exists in three Persons: Father, Son, and Spirit. Our minds are too small to completely wrap around it. Much like an ant cannot fathom what a human being truly is. We see each other as entire persons, but from the ant’s perspective, he only knows me as a giant wall of flesh. He cannot fathom my beginning or end.

So it is with our view of God. We know the revealed heart of Father God, we reflect on the historical Jesus, and we sense and respond to His Spirit within us and often around us. For some reason it works without our complete understanding. Frustrating for empiricists, I know. Oh well. I’m not God. I can’t explain everything. I guess you just have to be there.

All this to say: don’t be surprised that you see Jesus pop up throughout the Bible, in Genesis as well as John. It’s not simply that he loves this planet he created along with this humongous universe that supplies its physical needs; it’s that he wants to hang out with us.

He came to that world which was His own, but those people who were His own did not welcome Him. But to every one who welcomed Him, who recognized him for Who He truly was, he gave the authority to become the children of God… John 1:11-12 (my paraphrase)

Pastor George

The Bible is not a static book. Hebrews 4:12 describes it as "living and active." It is not meant to be read outside of life, but within your life. It does little good being stored in the memory units of your brain; it is to flow through your heart and out through your hands and feet. It fuses with your life!